If you follow any agents, editors, or authors on
blogs or social media, you’ll have heard about the importance of pacing—the
speed and timing of your story. We’ve all had both positive and negative experiences
with pacing while reading. Either the pacing has us flying through pages so
fast our fingers are practically on fire, desperate to see how the conflict is
resolved, or slogging through page after page of headdesk bashing boredom,
waiting—begging— for something juicy to happen.
I won’t lie. My life is busy. Too busy to waste time
on a book that’s slow (page after page with little to no character development,
story, plot, or importance happening on the page). I’m the kind of reader that will
put a book down if it isn’t engaging me somehow. And I know a lot of agents,
editors, writers, and readers feel the same way. So, how to make your writing
stand out? One way is to make sure your pacing is on point.
Good pacing doesn’t, by any means, translate to a
non-stop action thrill-ride from beginning to end. No. We don’t want the entire
book to keep the reader’s head spinning so fast they won’t remember what they read.
Good pacing is speeding up, slowing down, and adjusting as needed. Now to the
hard part, how to do this right.
Knowing when to speed up and slo-o-oow it down is
something you can learn from re-reading some of your favorite books.
Pick up one of your favorites and read the first
chapter. Be warned, I’m going to be using a lot of fish analogies. Because they
work. And because sushi is amazing (and now I’m kind of desperate for a spicy
tuna roll, but I’ll wait because I’m doing this post for you guys). The
beginning of a book. This is the hook, ideally it should contain something intriguing,
making you froth at the mouth for more. Hooks can be any pace you like, just
remember, the beginning of the book is a first impression. Would you tell a
complete stranger your life story the very first time you meet them? Probably
not. So please don’t info-dump in your hook. Small bits of info are great, in
fact, they can help increase pace by slipping them in here and there.
Now, read the next few chapters. I like to call this
the momentum. Ideally, within the first few chapters, the writer has baited the
hook with something delicious, something you—the awesome fish in this analogy—can’t
wait to bite onto and ride to the surface. You should, hopefully, be learning
the big problem that will want to propel you through the middle, toward the
climax, and ultimately, the conclusion. What keeps you engaged while reading? Characters,
story, plot—the ultimate trio. And pacing. If this part of the story all
strolled along at the same pace, you risk boredom. To keep the reader engaged,
something needs to kick up the pace.
Action, drama, mystery, intrigue, emotion—all of
these things have the capability to increase the pace. Shorter sentences.
Intense dialogue. Amped up heart rates. The threat of pain. Injury. Even death.
See what I mean?
Let’s move on. Keep reading. You should be near the
middle of the book now. You’re introducing new characters or getting to know
the ones you’ve met better, you’re learning what more about this big bad issue
that the main character(s) needs to overcome, or you’re following them on their
chosen path, knowing something bad is coming. All of these things are good, as
long as you’re still on the hook, riding through these bumps in the water and
not struggling desperately, wishing you never bit the hook to start with. This
is because the pacing of the book is varied, increasing then slowing.
Here is where pacing gets really important. It’s time to start building momentum for the big
climax. Usually the pacing leading up to the climax gets quicker, like a
racecar. This is the moment to let your pacing skills to shine. Action,
adventure, romance, whatever, as long as the tension is there and the conflict
is resolved.
The resolution. The final place in the book to tie
up all the loose ends. This becomes the perfect place to slow down. It’s your
last opportunity to savor living in this world.
A few other examples of great moments to slow the
pace down.
- Romance. Yes,
it’s no secret I lurve me some
romance, but it’s best when there’s a build-up. A great way to do that is focus
on feelings and details. Slow those seconds down. This is the perfect
example of how slowing down can actually add tension.
- An ah-ha
moment. When your character uncovers something s/he didn’t know before. Your
characters needs a few moments to process what they have learned, what this
new information could lead to, and how it makes things worse—because these
moments should almost always make things worse. ;)
- Too-much,
too quick. To take a breather during a quick-paced moment. Occasionally, the
reader can get overwhelmed. This is when it becomes necessary to press
pause and look around. Clarify the stakes, use this moment to find a way
to raise them even further.
- An injury.
This could be physical or psychological. Nothing ever goes perfect.
Someone’s bound to get hurt. Whether it’s your main character(s) or a
secondary character, injuries are serious, even if it’s an injury of the
heart. Show this emotion.
Aaaaand…scene.
Whew. That was a boat-load of information. And, with
any luck, the author has left you, the
reader, flopping on the deck—and hopefully threw you back in so you get do this
over and over again with their next book.
Now that you have the building blocks to great
pacing, I hope you guys are off to go pick up your pace. (Ah! See what I did
there? Heh. Okay…yeah, I’m off to spicy tuna roll heaven).
Lisa M. Basso was born and raised
in San Francisco, California. She is a lover of books, video games, animals,
and baking (not baking with animals though). As a child she would crawl into
worlds of her own creation and get lost for hours. Her love for YA fiction
started with a simple school reading assignment: S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders.
When not reading or writing she can usually be found at home with The Best Husband
that Ever Lived ™ and her two darling (and sometimes evil) cats, Kitties A and
B.
You can also find her prowling
the internet (when not writing)
